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Adventures normally only lasted a few hours, then it would be back to the chaos of tolerating the others' antics and whatever trauma Caine gave his performers on their most recent excursion. But that wasn't the case today.
As usual, Zooble opted out of the days adventure, to the dismay of Caine. But his pleading wasn't enough to convince Zooble, so, it retreated to its room. If they weren't catching up on lost sleep or yelling censored profanities over the frustration of failing to find a good set of "Zooble pieces"; the colorful amalgamation liked to spend their time alone working on jigsaws to the ambiance of their abstract record player playing whatever music Caine dug up in the files that didn't give Zooble a headache. Ironic that the collective of assorted pieces would find jigsaws as her main pass-time, but as long as it got the job done of keeping her fragile human mind sane, that was enough for Zooble. And this routine is enough to get them through the average 1-4 hours an adventure may take. Not 26.
Apparently the adventure for the day had been some form of escape room that Caine was adamant about not letting the players leave until they completed it. And unfortunately for them, the complexity of the ringleader's imagination in combination with Jax's determined efforts to make every second living hell, what would have otherwise been a relatively simple adventure (give or take) turned into over a simulated in-game day.
Now, Zooble didn't exactly mind not having to deal with people for an extended period of time (as odd as it was), he had never been the social type anyway. But every now and then, xe still needed to recharge from being an antisocial bedroom goblin by actually interacting with people. People usually being Gangle.
After being alerted the others had returned and filled in on what happened, Zooble now stood at her door, head rested lazily against the icon of the porcelain mask. They knocked twice. After a moment of the sounds of shuffling, probably Gangle setting aside whatever she was working on, Zooble's knock were met with "Come in!" He twisted the door handle, entering the room to be greeted by the surprisingly cheery face-she must have gotten a new comedy mask, that's probably what the shuffling was- of Gangle, sat at the edge of her canopy bed, legs dangling over the edge, kicking back and forth. Xe shuffled in just enough to close the door behind xem, before walking straight to Gangle's bed and faceplanting into it with a groan.
Gangle shifted towards her partner, "Are you okay?! Did something happen while we were gone?"
Zooble groaned again, murmuring into the sheets, "You were gone for so longggggg."
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." It wasn't her fault. She didn't need to apologize. "At least you didn't have to deal with Jax?" Gangle gave an awkward chuckle, trying to think on the bright side.
Zooble grunted, shifting onto her back, upper body leaned against Gangle's pillows. They sighed, "I suppose that's fair. But that means you had to deal with his bull#!&%." Gangle bit her lip, glancing aside, or at least, the equivalent of that for an animated theatre mask. "And besides, it uh . . ." Zooble cleared its throat. "it can get . . . lonely . . . without you here for a while . . ." Zooble tried to suppress the flush of embarrassment, but considering Gangle's grinning face, he's not sure it worked.
"You need affection to recharge?" Gangle scooted over a bit, a ribbon arm outstretched.
Zooble blushed, rolling xyr eyes, "Don't say it like that, it sounds dumb." but still reached out xyr arms to pull Gangle towards xem.
Gangle rested her cheek on her partner's chest. "I mean, that is what it is, isn't it?"
Zooble mumbled a dismissive "whatever", but if they had a mouth to show it, they'd be smiling.
Gangle curled her strange, digital body around Zooble's various limbs, almost like wrapping a present in a bow. She shifted her ribbons back and forth, making sure to find the comfiest position for the both of them. Gangle relished the feeling of her partner against her satin skin. Sure it was just plastic, maybe some wood or metal or fabric here and there, but it just felt different, it just felt right, simply because it was Zooble.
"Is this good?" Gangle asked. "Firm enough?" She knew that Zooble tended to prefer tighter physical affection as opposed to more tender touch.
Zooble smiled again. "Yeah, it's good." They lightly tapped their face against Gangle's in a strange display of affection, almost akin to a kiss. "Thanks."
Gangle smiled, white cheeks turning rosy, and nuzzled her head into the crook of xyr neck. "Anytime Zeezee." She cooed the nickname fondly.
Zooble rolled her eyes before closing them and beginning to gently run one of her hands back and forth over the mass of ribbons curled tightly around her. Gangle gave the best snuggles. Ribbons may normally be relatively light weight, but Gangle isn't just "any ribbons". I felt like something between a massage and a weighted blanket, but on all sides of its body at once, except it wasn't, it was its girlfriend. Zooble felt like he could fall asleep like this, and he had on multiple occasions prior. And the same was true for Gangle as well. That's why cuddles were a favorite pastime together of theirs.
Half-asleep; Zooble became a bit more conscious at the sound of soft hums every now and then coming from the pile of burlap and porcelain nestled into its collar bone. He chuckled softly at the adorable display before him, which was apparently enough to alert the surprisingly not asleep Gangle.
Gangle tilted her head up. "Hmm?"
This drew another amused chuckle out of Zooble. "You were doing the thing where you hum a little with each breath again. You know, the one that sounds a bit like a cat snoring?"
Gangle's eyes widened, blushing as she reeled back a bit, propping up her head and uppermost torso a little further away from Zooble. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize! I just kind of do it subconsciously and-!"
Zooble interrupted the girl before she could panic further, guiding her back to xyr body with xyr hand. "No. No no no no no. You're fine. It doesn't bother me at all. . . . It's actually . . . really cute." Xyr voice became a bit quieter with the latter statement, blushing.
Gangle blinked, face flushing, then made a noise of delight similar to a tiny squeal. "Augh! Zooble! You can't just say things like that!" She refastened her ribbons, face buried in Zooble's chest for a moment, still blushing profusely.
Satisfied with her girlfriend's reaction and gaining a bit more confidence she retorted. "Things like what? That my girlfriend's $!@*ing adorable and pretty as &}#?, too?" They leaned their head forward ever so slightly, this, in combination with the witty retort-flirt, caused Gangle to go absolutely beet red, her face almost matching her ribbons.
Gangle buried her face back into Zooble, squeal-screaming in a flustered overload, briefly untangling her legs from Zooble's to kick them about in a flustered stim as she did so. Zooble laughed so hard cartoon tears bit at the corners of their eyelids. The two eventually calmed down and sighed, simply laying there for a moment. But the quiet was suddenly broken by Gangle's voice.
"I'm really glad I can do this-be this for you."
Zooble wasn't quite sure what she meant. "What?"
"Ah-well, you know, it's nice that you think of me as a sort of . . . . safe space! A source of comfort. I mean, you've always been their for me when I needed it, even before we started dating. And it really means a lot to me. So it also means a lot to me that I can be like that for you, too. I want to be able to be what- o-or who you think of first when you need a break or need to vent about something." She hugged Zooble a little tighter. "A-also of course I want to be a good girlfriend. 'Cause you're far better of a partner than I could have ever expected to have and . . . well . . . I really like being with you."
Zooble could only stare and blush, xe were absolutely touched. All it could bring itself to say at first was ". . . wow." But he was eventually able to find his words. "That . . . that really means a lot to me Gangle. I'm not entirely sure what to say actually." They laughed. "I guess I kind of half to say thank you. I genuinely really appreciate it. Like, again, it just . . . it means a lot to me. And for what it's worth . . . I really like being your partner too." Doing it's best to suppress the embarrassed blush, it nuzzled against Gangle's mask, squeezing her in a hug. "You're the best girlfriend."
Despite currently having a comedy mask on, Gangle had to use all her willpower to not cry tears of joy in that moment. She nuzzled back. "I love you Zooble."
"I love you, too, Gangle."